South Korean Catholics have launched a project to create a Cross of Peace from barbed wire taken from the North Korean border to be presented at the 2027 World Youth Day in Seoul. Source: UCA News.
The Barbed Wire Cross Project was opened in the South Korean capital on April 12.
The local organising committee of WYD27 held the opening ceremony of the project in the courtyard of Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul, marking the beginning of a journey to transform barbed wire – a symbol of division and conflict – into a sign of peace, says a press release from the Seoul Archdiocese.
The project is a joint initiative by organising committee and the Path With You Foundation as part of the preparation for the next international gathering for World Youth Day.
Using discarded barbed wire collected from the Military Demarcation Line, which separates South and North Korea, and from various locations across Korea, young people will spend one year, until April 4, 2027, hammering and straightening the wire to create a Cross of Peace.
Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-taick of Seoul presided over the opening ceremony.
In his homily, Archbishop Chung termed the barbed wire “a painful symbol of division, confrontation, and the tragedy of fratricidal war on the Korean Peninsula.”
“Just as the cross, once an instrument of execution, became through the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ a symbol of peace and reconciliation, sacrifice and love, I pray that this cross may come to take root in our hearts as a symbol of reconciliation and peace, sacrifice and love on the Korean Peninsula,” he said.
Archbishop Chung also blessed the hammer, the anvil, and the materials to be used in the making of the cross.
Archbishop Chung, Bishop Paul Kyung-sang Lee, general coordinator of WYD 2027, and other guests took part in a demonstration by hammering and straightening the barbed wire.
“I pray that this cross may come to take root in our hearts as a symbol of reconciliation and peace, sacrifice and love on the Korean Peninsula,” Archbishop Chung said.
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‘Barbed Wire Cross Project’ launched ahead of Seoul WYD 2027 (UCA News)
